Post Tagged with: "law"
Obama to re-authorise three provisions of Patriot Act
After the arrest of suspects based in Colorado and New York in an alleged ‘varsity level’ terrorist plot, the spectre of terrorism in the United States has re-emerged as an issue, one that also has economic overtones because of the fragility of recovery. President Obama is following his predecessor George W. Bush in restricting civil
Bloomberg News is still after the Fed for more disclosure
Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matt Winkler wrote an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday explaining why he is after the Federal Reserve to come clean about it’s secret lending program during the height of the financial crisis. Bloomberg has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve to force the Fed to reveal the name of
Judge Rakoff says BofA-SEC deal suggests collusion
Below is a good video analysis by Jess Bravin of the Wall Street Journal on the BofA-Merrill Lynch saga. Bravin discusses the recent rejection by Judge Jed Rakoff of the out-of-court settlement between the SEC and Bank of America (BAC) in which BofA was to pay a miniscule $33 million fine. Rakoff’s decision to scupper
Tariffs: Other industries may line up for sanctions against China
Now that President Obama has signalled his willingness to punish the Chinese for dumping on tires, a whole host of other industries are likely to file their own ‘copy-cat’ complaints. Reuters says: President Barack Obama‘s decision to restrict tire imports from China after union workers complained of a surge could lead to copycat cases in
Bernie Madoff caught on tape in 2005
Via CNBC: Bernie Madoff, the man who orchestrated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, is heard on tape in 2005 talking to executives at Fairfield Greenwich about how to get around the SEC. Ron Geffner, a former SEC enforcement attorney, discusses the tape with CNBC’s Scott Cohn. Self-regulation in action. Note that this tape was
Bloomberg News vs. Fed: Judgment against Fed attached
Below is a copy of the actual judgment in the Bloomberg News vs. Fed FOIA case. The case is: Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), No. 08-9595. Hat tip Barry Ritholtz and Zero Hedge. Bloomberg FOIA Lawsuit Decision
Judge stops BofA deal with the SEC
Thank goodness someone has some sense. Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Jed Rakoff refused to approve Monday’s Bank of America’s deal with the SEC be cause it may be unfair to the public to accept the settlement. Bank of America was accused by the SEC of lying to shareholders about its role in bonuses at
SEC charges BofA of lying to investors over Merrill but settles
Bank of America’s story in the BofA-Merrill saga has always sounded dubious at best. Ken Lewis has always claimed he was doing what was right by shareholders and America, that Gentle Ben and Hammering Hank coerced him into the Merrill deal, that Merrill’s CEO John Thain was not completely above board. All of this should
Best Buy and Wal-mart sued over typical Chinese knockoffs
Back in the 1970s, a Japanese car would be laughed off the road in America as a cheap poor man’s vehicle. But thins changed. Remember the Datsun 240Z? That was a car that showed us the Japanese were for real. Datsun became Nissan and spawned Acura Infiniti, steadily moving up the chain toward even the
Calpers sues ratings agencies over SIVs
Reuters is reporting that the ratings agencies are about to get into some serious legal problems. You see,during the bubble years, the ratings agencies gave a gold-standard AAA rating to what now seems to be dubious investment vehicles. Now, investors are angry and they are starting to sue. Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund,
Sotomayor looks unassailable right now
I listened to the first day of the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings for a spot as a US Supreme Court justice. I was very impressed. The three who impressed me the most were Al Franken (D-MN), Arlen Specter (D-PA), and Sotomayor herself. Franken was very well-spoken, even inspirational in his commentary after his introductory remarks.
How the U.S. beat a suspected tax cheat into submission
It is refreshing to read the foreign press because they have decidedly different takes on issues.Whether you agree or not, it is important to hear those views. The Swiss are very negative on the U.S. and their tax fight against UBS. This has them dredging up pass legal skirmishes. Here’s an article from the Swiss